Island Soul Caribbean, Seattle

Island Soul is a Caribbean restaurant right across from our favourite Columbia City breakfast join, Geraldine’s. I was here for dinner and then brunch a couple days later with my friends.

On our first visit, I was torn between getting the whole fried tilapia and the oxtail stew. I ended up getting the oxtail stew instead because it was under famous house specials. Luckily, my friend ordered the tilapia so I was able to try that too.

Each entree comes with 2 sides of your choice. I paired my oxtail stew with collar greens, and rice and peas. The meat on the oxtail was so tender, and the stew had a little bit of spice in it. It was a comforting stew, but I was a tad too salty for me. Actually, I found that most of the dishes I tried that night were a little bit on the salty side. And also I wished it was a little bit warmer.

The deep fried whole tilapia was the best of the night. The fish was so fresh and moist, and the Escovitch sauce was nice and tangy. I really recommend this dish if you love seafood. I really wished I went with this choice instead.

The best side dishes of the night were their mac & cheese and mashed yams. The mac & cheese were creamy, and cheesy. The mashed yams were sweet, had lots of roasted flavour and with a hint of cinnamon. I’d recommend these 2.

The portion sizes here are giant. Also the pricing is quite expensive with most entrees starting at $18. Although we were stuffed to the max from our dinners, we kept seeing and smelling awesome fried chicken coming out of the kitchen on to other tables. Right then, we made a decision to come back for their fried chicken, we just didn’t know it would be 2 days later for our brunch.

Brunch here was an easy choice for me. Chicken & Waffles. This dish was much more affordable at just $9. It has half of deep fried cornish hen with belgian waffles and a side of fruits. The fried chicken smelled and looked just as amazing from the other night, and it tasted awesome. The uber crispy batter was really delicious and stuck on to the chicken well too. It almost had a buttery taste. The chicken was really moist. I ate most of the chicken without hot sauce or any kind because it was flavourful enough on its own. It was too bad that the waffles weren’t very good. It needed a couple more minutes on the waffle iron for it to get a bit more crispy and warm.

This place has really good food, but very slow service. It’s not a place to come if you are in a rush. A take out option would probably be best if you live near by.